Celery

Celery is one of three vegetables considered the holy trinity (along with onions and bell peppers) of Louisiana Creole and Cajun cuisine. It is also one of the three vegetables (together with onions and carrots) that constitute the French mirepoix, which is often used as a base for sauces and soups.

Celery Salt is used as a seasoning, in cocktails (notably to enhance the flavour of Bloody Mary cocktails), on the Chicago-style hot dog, and in Old Bay Seasoning.

Celery hearts

A bunch of celery consists of 8 or so stalks, celery hearts refer to the innermost, tender stalks

Growing celery

Because of the requirement to earth up celery, it can be a bit of a fiddle to grow at home, however, a neat cheat is to grow cutting celery which looks like parsley, has the flavour of celery and can be grown on a window sill.

Buying and keeping celery

Keeping whole celery in the fridge and pruning what you need from the leaf-end means it keeps for more than 2 weeks. This piece is 17 days old.

Don't buy pre-cut sticks of celery, they dry out and go limp in days. Buy a complete bunch with the stems joined at the base. Bought in this manner, celery will stay crispy (in the fridge) for two weeks. If you can also buy celery with the leaves, they are a great way of easily adding flavour to a dish.

If you buy celery that is joined at the base and prune the part you need from the top (leaf-end) then it stays amazingly fresh for weeks if refrigerated. The celery in the photo is 17 days old. If you do need whole stems, they can still be snapped from the base.

if you have celery that is reaching the end of its useful life, slice it into moons, bag it up and freeze it. It loses its rigidity when defrosted but it will be fine for stocks and soups. Even batter if you can vacuum seal it first.

Seasonal Information: Celery

This information is specifically for countries in the northern temperate zone of the Northern Hemisphere; particularly the United Kingdom, however it should be applicable for northern USA, northern Europe, Canada, Russia, etc.

Celery is at its best and in season during the following months:
October, November, December, January, February & March.

5 a day; fruit and vegetable portion sizes

We have recently started to take delivery of a weekly organic fruit and vegetable box which has of course heightened our interest in the 5 a day fruit and vegetable regime. This simple app will show you what makes up one of your 5 a day portions of vegetables. You'll be surprised how small the quantities are in some instances. You'll be able to eat healthier and feel all the better for it.

Select a fruit or vegetable from the picker below to see what its daily portion consists of